


Reckless

by silentassassin21



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Based loosely on Vol. 1 of Young Avengers, Eli/Kate sexual tension, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Group Bonding, If the Young Avengers were incorporated into the MCU AU, M/M, No Iron Lad, and Tommy/Kate sexual tension, and now I'm too lazy to change it, probably some Cassie/Jonas sexual tension too, written before Infinity War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-02-03 12:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12748416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentassassin21/pseuds/silentassassin21
Summary: With half the Avengers dead and the rest retired out of grief, Peter Parker has decided that the world needs a new group of heroes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has also been posted on my wattpad (@clawsandbeak) and tbh I would recommend reading it on there because the format's nicer and I'll be updating there first

It had never occurred to Alana how terrifying being held at gunpoint would be before the moment when she had a person in a ski mask pointing a gun in her face.

There were three others like him pointing guns at the several other hostages, and a few more taking as much cash as they could in as little time as possible. Alana looked around for... something. A weapon, an escape route, she had no idea, but she knew that she couldn't spend another second looking at the gun an inch from her face.

The world outside the bank seemed dead. There were a few lights on in some shops across the road and some cars parked but not a person in sight. Anyone who had been there had probably left immediately at the sound of a gunshot; hell, if Alana had been outside she would have left as well.

But she hadn't been outside. In fact, she had only been a few steps inside when the robbers had ran in, guns out and shouting.

So she had been forced to the ground, badly bruising her knees in the process.

As she looked frantically out the window hoping for a miracle she thought she saw a person dart across a shop front. She decided it was a trick of the light, just her brain hoping for someone to be there, but then it happened again. This time they ran slightly closer and Alana saw it was a small person with something strapped to their back and something covering the top half of their face.

She lost the person when the man in front of her kicked her in the side. He and his buddies laughed and he prepared to kick again when the window Alana was looking out of before was smashed.

She got shoved in the confusion and hit her head on the floor, disorienting her for a few moments. When the room stopped spinning and she sat up all she could see was chaos.

The robbers no longer had guns to peoples' heads and she could see her fellow hostages either inching towards the smashed window or huddling in the nearest corner. Instead their guns were pointed at the four people who had smashed through the window.

One was wearing all dark blue, including a mask that covered his entire face, with splashes of red and white, and was fighting two of the robbers at once. There was a small man in a red cape (in any other situation Alana would have rolled her eyes) who was hovering a few feet above the ground and shooting red sparks at any robbers he could find.

There was a giant green guy who could only be described as a mini, blonde Hulk who was (in true Hulk fashion) smashing people into walls.

The final person was the one Alana had seen outside. The thing strapped to her back was a quiver of arrows that she periodically reached into and fired arrows from a purple bow with perfect ease, all while engaging regularly in hand-to-hand with whichever criminal was closest.

Alana looked at the four in wonder for a moment, not moving from her position. Despite there being twice the number of criminals, they had them all unconscious in minutes. It was especially impressive considering that two of them had no form of powers, as far as she could tell.

The illusion of badassery was almost immediately lost, though, when the woman and magic guy high-fived. As the magician attempted to repair the window, the woman and Mr. Stars-And-Stripes began arguing over battle strategy or something while the mini-Hulk rolled his eyes at them.

That was when Alana realised that these heroes weren't the uber powerful, elite trained superheroes that she was used to seeing on TV. These were inexperienced, uncoordinated young people — because now that she looked closer, she realised they couldn't have been older than twenty — with cool abilities.

"Are you okay?" It took a second for her to realise that the mini-Hulk was talking to her. He held a hand out and pulled her up much gentler than she expected.

She nodded. "Fine, I guess," she said, her voice shaking.

The man smiled at her and turned to the next victim, asking if they were alright and putting a comforting hand on their shoulder.

Alana walked out, her legs wobbly and aching. She waved off someone else asking if she was okay and got into her car.

As she sat there, she realised that in her head she was already writing the article that would break the news of these new heroes. Despite herself, she smiled. She was determined to be the first to name them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, kinda shitty opening chapter from an OCs point of view, but I think this will be the only OC chapter and it was easier to write from an outsiders perspective for this scene. 
> 
> I hope you like and decide to stick with this. Please kudos and comment! :)


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm just saying, you don't _always_ have to smash through windows," Eli said, looking judgementally at the purple-clad girl beside him. "I know that going a safer route is less dramatic but it gets the job done without pieces of glass sticking out of your arm."

Kate snorted and pulled another shard of glass out of her upper arm, using the sleeve of her jacket to stop the blood seeping out. "What would you prefer, I went in the front door?" she asked mockingly, removing the jacket and placing a bandaid on top. "Or maybe you want me to knock and wait for them to let me in?"

Teddy could see that Eli was getting annoyed at the archer, his entire body tensing like it did before a fight. "No, but you could stick to the freaking plan and let Billy teleport us in!" he snapped.

"Quick reminder that Billy isn't sure if he can do that," Billy chimed in.

Eli turned sharply to where Billy was a few feet behind him. "Whose side are you on?" he demanded.

"The side of 'I'm not sure if I can teleport us all perfectly.'"

"So if Billy can't teleport us in then what else am I supposed to do?" Kate asked, sounding smug.

"Not _jump through the freaking window!_ "

Teddy and Billy both groaned in unison as the argument started from the top. This happened after every mission, or even training exercise, they did and there usually wasn't a good reason for it.

The only reason they argued was because they were both leaders who had to settle with having a partner, something neither of them liked. So they would nit-pick the other persons every move, even when they did something well.

"What do you think would happen if we locked them in a room together for an hour?" Billy asked quietly so neither of the two walking in front of them could hear.

"Either one would end up dead or we would find them naked," Teddy immediately replied. He smiled and looked at Billy. "Are we gonna take that chance?"

The shorter boy groaned. "I'm seriously considering it."

"Or," Teddy said, throwing an arm around Billy's shoulder and drawing him in closer. "We could just get ear plugs."

Billy laughed and shook his head fondly.

The two in front had now started shouting at each other, which was drawing a lot of unwanted attention considering their language was quite colourful and they were screaming like lunatics at 11pm. People had started going to their windows and looking out; one guy even shouted at them to shut up or he would shoot. Kate's reply included about five profanities and three threats.

By the time they got back to the Bishop Warehouse, Peter was already standing out the front with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

To be honest, Teddy didn't think he would ever get over the fact that he had just called Spider-Man by his first name, even if it was internal.

Despite the disapproving look, the man didn't say anything and only turned around to walk inside the large building. What they couldn't see was the fond smile on hid face as he walked, remembering when he was the exact same — or, would have been the exact same if he'd had team members to shout out in the middle of the night.

The Bishop Warehouse was large and mostly empty. It had sat abandoned for years after the company had moved to a different location. Kate had suggested it become their base of operations and a place for them to train as it had large, empty rooms that had since been filled with various things they needed (or wanted).

Peter walked past the ex-offices-now-individual-training-rooms and into the ex-board-room-now-chill-area. Apparently Kate had been pissed off at her dad one day and her response to that was to spend thousands of his dollars. That had resulted in two couches, a massive TV, the newest X Box, a bunch of games, a mini fridge that was full of snacks and energy drinks, a coffee table, and an ugly work of art (Kate had admitted that was an impulse $3600 buy).

Eli sat on one couch and Kate sat at the opposite end of the other one. Not feeling comfortable picking sides, Billy and Teddy opted for the surprisingly comfortable floor between them.

"You've been noticed," Peter said, sitting cross-legged on the coffee table and opening his laptop so it faced them.

Teddy leaned forward slightly to read what looked like an article on a blog.

 _YOUNG AVENGERS???_  
_written by alana lovelace_

_While out at the bank this evening there were a group of people who came in with guns and tried to rob it. They nearly did, but then someone came crashing in and saved the lives of everyone inside, myself included dear readers._

_There were four of them, all in costumes and wielding either powers or weapons. A man that looked like patriotism personified, a mini-Hulk without the anger issues, a magician in a cape, and a woman with only a bow and arrow. This group of vigilantes quickly rendered the thieves unconscious and then proceeded to help all those who had been thrown to the floor in the fight._

_Despite their bravery, they quickly descended into arguing among themselves like the teenagers they appear to be. I fled the scene before they got into the heat of their argument but I can imagine it wasn't pretty._

_Are these kids trying to fill the space the Avengers left? It sure seems so. They already have a Hulk, and Mr. Patriotism could easily pass as a knock-off Captain America. But the real question is, are they up to the challenge of defending the universe at such a young age?_

There was more rambling and wondering from the author but Teddy had gotten the gist and stopped reading.

"The Young Avengers?" Eli asked, looking up disbelievingly at Peter for a moment before back at the laptop. "No originality obviously."

"I'm sorry, who decided to cosplay as the child of Captain America and the Winter Soldier for their superhero outfit?" Kate asked and Teddy internally groaned at the oncoming argument.

Luckily, before it could happen, Peter interjected. "This may only be a post on a blog with minimal editing but it's a popular blog that is definitely going to be shared with an article like this," he said, pulling the laptop back towards himself.

"So... what does this mean?" Billy asked, his fingers fiddling with the edge of his cape.

"Honestly, I don't know," Peter said. "It really depends on whether or not you guys want to publicly be the Young Avengers or whatever with codenames or if you want to be anonymous for a while."

Without even checking with any of the others Teddy knew what their response was. "Anonymous," Kate said, and it might have been the first thing she and Eli had agreed on all day.

They were all seventeen, they didn't want the public (or worse — their parents) to know that they were trying to be superheroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, and the few after it, will mostly be introductions to the characters, infinity war backstory, the set up for the plot, etc. 
> 
> I hope I didn't mess up the characterisation too much bc i'm highkey worried about that :/ Please kudos and comment if you liked it


	3. Chapter 3

Sweat dripped down the side of America's face as she dusted dirt and flecks of alien off her shorts. This planet had ridiculously high temperatures which suited its residents just fine but made America feel gross and sticky.

She walked as she dusted herself off, not feeling confident in her ability to coherently jump to another dimension. In this state she would probably go to a freezing cold dimension, which would really put the nail in the coffin of her day.

She pulled out her phone, stopping under what looked like a storefront where there was some shade, and unlocked it to look at the message she had gotten twenty minutes beforehand.  
****  
**dom**  
_i know that ur fighting_  
_aliens or whatever so_  
_good luck i guess and_  
_don't die <3_

 _did i actually just wish_  
_you good luck in_  
_fighting aliens??_

_just. don't die_

America smiled as she read the flustered girls' messages. She and Dominique had only been dating for a few months, which had been enough time for America to tell her about the dimension-kicking and all that.

 **America**   
_don't worry, i didn't die_

 _and the good luck was_  
_cute_

It was around four in the morning on Earth 616 and even if she hadn't been asleep before, Dominique was definitely asleep by then, so America pocketed the phone. Feeling less like she was going to pass out from the heat she prepared herself to dimension jump when she felt a slight tremor.

It was so incredibly slight that she wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been focusing her attention on her feet. The people wandering around near her didn't appear to have noticed it and were still going about their days.

America frowned at her shoes. This was the third planet she'd been to where there had been strange, almost undetectable shakes in the ground. There had likely been more than that and America just hadn't noticed.

"Are you alright miss?" one of the residents of the town asked her, stopping beside her.

America looked up and did her best to smile. "Yes, I'm fine," she assured them and they went on their way.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, further interrupting her train of thought. She pulled it out and internally scolded Dominique for still being awake.

 **dom**  
_glad ur alive_ <3<3

America was about to reply and tell the other girl to go to sleep but then saw a message Dominique had sent her the previous day. It mentioned that scientists had recorded a tiny earthquake worldwide.

America started typing before she even had time to think.

 **america**  
_i'm coming to your earth_

_* * *_

"What about the Magician?" Teddy suggested.

Peter had told them that unless they wanted the press to have free reign they needed to choose their cool superhero names. Well, he hadn't said cool, but it was implied.

He and Billy had spent the entire weekend trying to come up with names. Hulkling was almost immediately chosen for Teddy, mostly curtesy of the blog writer. Billy's was proving to be much more difficult though.

Asgardian was the first suggestion but was then shot down when they realised the unfortunate irony. Witch and Warlock were also popular ones but Billy hadn't liked how they sounded.

There were nearly twenty more sitting in a document on Billy's laptop, none of which the boy was entirely happy with.

Billy wrinkled his nose. "Maybe, but it kinda seems too generic," he said.

"What, and Hulkling isn't?" Teddy asked with a laugh. "It makes me sound like a tiny Hulk."

"Well, who am I the tiny version of?" Billy asked, smiling in a way that meant mischief.

Teddy took a half-step away from his boyfriend, nearly tripping over someone in the process. He put a finger to his chin as if he was analysing the other boy. "I think you're a tiny magician."

Predictably, Billy groaned. "Lay off the magician, I'm not doing it," he said. "Let me be more specific; which superhero am I the mini version of?"

Without a sarcastic answer, Teddy was stumped. Billy's powers (as far as they could tell) were somewhat in line with Doctor Strange or the Scarlet Witch, neither of which were names that were easy to rip off the way Hulk was.

Billy raised his eyebrows at the tall blonde and then groaned again. "I hate my powers so much," he complained.

Teddy laughed. "You only hate them because they make giving you a codename difficult," he said.

"That's a good enough reason," Billy protested.

Teddy was going to reply but accidentally ran into a short girl with blonde hair. To be fair, she could have been above average height and still appeared short to Teddy who rested at 6'1.

He apologised to the girl but she was already rushing away. Weirdly, the girl seemed kind of familiar, but in a really far off way. Like he had sat next to her once on the bus and that was the only time he had ever seen her.

Billy's voice interrupted his internal musing. "I refuse to be late because you're questioning your sexuality."

Teddy snorted unattractively. "As if." He grabbed Billy's hand. "Besides, blondes aren't my thing."

Without looking, Teddy knew there was a light blush on Billy's face as he muttered "shut up".

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god these chapters are going to be so short.
> 
> More plot stuff and more characters. Dominique is an oc i created bc i needed to give America a legit reason to go to Earth 616 (which i'm pretending is the mcu) and America deserves to have a cute gf. Tbh, she might be one of my fave ocs i've ever created bc she's really just a cutie pie who is super supportive and loving


	4. Chapter 4

The grass surrounding the old Avengers Tower was dying. If she were there for any other purpose, Cassie would have laughed at the irony.

A graveyard with nothing but dying foliage.

But as she was sitting in front of a grave in the back row, the irony was lost to her.

That row of graves were all made of dark blue marble with white letters carved into them. At the top of each were the Avengers symbol, as were on all graves outside the tower, except these ones were coloured gold.

Cassie placed a hand gently on the symbol that adorned the marble she was sitting in front of, then let it drift down to the rest of the writing.

_Here lies Scott Lang, the Ant-Man, who was defeated in the battle against Thanos._

A tear slipped down her face, landing on the dead grass. The writing was so generic, the exact same on the grave beside it, and the one beside that, and all the others in the row. The only distinguishing factors were the names.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket but she ignored it. She already knew it would be her mum or step-dad asking why she wasn't at school. She couldn't tell them that she was visiting her dad's grave again. They had accused her of stalking the Avengers enough times that she could recite the lecture perfectly.

She continued to sit there, diligently ignoring the continued buzzing.

Her hand had long since fallen to rest on the ground in front of the grave. There was a small flower trying its hardest to grow and Cassie suddenly wished she had the power to help it before it would inevitably die.

Because her hand was resting on the ground and she was looking so intently at the flower she noticed the slightest of movement underneath the earth. It felt as though someone had lightly shaken everything, the petals on the flower vibrating for a split second.

It took a moment for Cassie to realise that the shaking wasn't normal. She immediately pulled her phone out, expecting a notification of someone worriedly messaging her or a news app alerting her of strange seismic activity.

To her surprise, the last notifications she had were all texts and missed calls from her mum and step-dad, the last dated ten minutes beforehand.

**Mum**   
_Cassie why did I receive_   
_an e-mail from your_   
_school asking why you_   
_were absent?_

_What's wrong Cass?_

**Missed call from "Mum" [x2]**

**Mum**   
_Cassandra answer me_   
_right now!_

**Dick**   
_Your mum's really worried_   
_Cass, please contact us_

_You'd better not be_   
_harassing those masked_   
_idiots_

**Missed call from "Dick"**

**Missed call from "Mum" [x2]**

**Missed call from "Dick"**

Furrowing her brows in confusion, Cassie ignored the texts and missed calls and opened up the news app she had installed after the war in case something interesting or life-threatening came up.

It said nothing about an earthquake. The last report was of a house fire a few states away.

She was about to refresh the page when she was interrupted.

**Incoming call from "Mum"**   
**ACCEPT OR DECLINE**

She impatiently waited for it to ring out and then refreshed the news page.

Nothing new.

Not wanting to worry her mum further she opened her messages app and typed a quick message to her, completely ignoring her step-dad.

**Cassie**   
_don't worry, i'm fine,_   
_just needed a mental_   
_health day_

"Who are you?"

Cassie whipped her head up to find some chick in all purple with a long braid standing above her.

"Who are you?" she shot back, standing up and subconsciously making herself an inch or so taller.

The girl put a hand on her hip and tilted her chin upwards slightly. As Cassie looked more at their surroundings she saw three people behind the girl. Someone dressed from head to toe in dark blue spandex, a giant blonde boy, and a dude in an honest to god cape.

Cassie couldn't help it; she huffed out a laugh. "You're those 'Young Avengers', aren't you?"

The girl went to open her mouth (probably to deny it) but Spandex beat her. "Yes."

If looks could kill, he would have been burnt alive where he stood. The girls' fiery gaze returned to Cassie. "Why do you care?" Her voice was cold, a stark contrast to the fire she exhibited.

"I don't," Cassie replied. It was half the truth. She had laughed at the ridiculousness of their group when she had read the article, but then an idea had started to form in her head. "I was just wondering if I could join you."

"Why?" Cape asked, stepping forward.

"Because I want to continue doing what my dad did," she replied.

"Wha—" Spandex started to say but was cut off by the blonde.

"You're Ant-Man's daughter."

Cassie grinned, ignoring the urge to curl into a ball at the mention of her father. "Cassie Lang, as you live and breathe."

"And you... want to join us losers?" Cape asked, disbelief throughout his voice.

"Well, my first choice was the Runaways, but unfortunately they're not hiring," she quipped.

Cape smiled at her. "I'm Billy Kaplan," he said. He won points in Cassie's book for not holding out his hand to shake awkwardly. Instead he just gestured to the rest of the team and gave introductions. "This is Teddy Altman, Eli Bradley, and Kate Bishop."

"Cool," Cassie said. "No codenames yet?"

Kate laughed. "We're working on it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we've now met my bby Cassie. You also know at least one of our faves who didn't make it out of IW alive. I'm sorry for killing Scott but him being dead works best for Cassie's story. 
> 
> Next chapter will introduce the final member of the YA — well, for a while, at least. 
> 
> Please kudos and comment if you enjoyed :)


	5. Chapter 5

The New York air was cool, a stark contrast to the comforting warmth of Dominique's dorm room.

Despite the chill, America refused to put on weather-appropriate pants, staying in her shorts. She did, however, concede and put on a jacket that fell down to her thighs. Her hood was pulled up in an effort to protect her ears from the slight wind, as well as to disguise her face.

Dominique had only asked once why America had showed up weeks earlier than anticipated, and hadn't asked again when she had said she couldn't tell her.

The thoughts of her wonderful girlfriend distracted America for a few moments, which was long enough for her to turn down the wrong street. As she went to turn back she saw someone slip past. The person was small, the size of a child, but walked softly and gracefully.

She couldn't put her finger on it but there was something about him that made her uneasy. He was too sure and confident to be a mortal child wandering around an alley.

So she followed him.

He never faltered or looked behind him once, something which started to worry America. The closer she got to boy, the more she could feel the dangerously powerful energy rolling off of him in waves, waves which felt perilously close to crashing over her.

After a few minutes, he darted into another alley. To America's surprise, he was standing with his arms crossed in front of her when she turned to follow down the same alley.

"What are you doing?" His voice was silky and melodic, a combination that shouldn't have been possible in a child who looked around ten years old.

America straightened herself and made it a point to look down at him. "Following a very shady figure," she said bluntly.

The child laughed. It was not a happy laugh; it was cold and made America want to run. "Always the villain," he said, smiling at her.

"I answered your question, so you can answer mine," she said, ignoring the creeping sensation that she not, under any circumstances, be talking to this child. "What are _you_ doing?"

"Trying to track where exactly the source of these... strange events is."

His answer surprised her, mostly because the entire time she had had a niggling feeling that her mind was making up the weird earthquakes.

The surprise must have showed on her face because he laughed again, just as cold and threatening as the time before. "So, you've had experiences with these events?" he asked, his eyebrow raised as if to tell her that the question was rhetorical.

"You could say that," she replied coolly. "Why are you so interested in them?"

"Because not only are they unnatural, they're also impacting all known universes, including my own," the boy said. "I don't particularly want my home world to implode."

America hated herself for wanting to trust him. "What do you know about them?" she asked, hoping to weasel a bit more information out of him so she could quickly leave and continue investigating on her own.

The boy scoffed. "How stupid do you think I am?" he asked. "I'm not going to tell you anything else... for free."

A con-man. America hated those.

"Name your price." It wasn't a request; it was a demand, and he knew it.

"You're a hero, yes?" All he got in response was a shrug. "So the Avengers trust you?" Another shrug. "Take me to them."

It took a moment for America to react. "That's it?" she asked incredulously. "You want me to take you to the Avengers and then you'll tell me all your secrets."

"Who said anything about _all_ my secrets?" With that, the boy turned and started walking in the opposite direction, towards the end of the alley.

America followed against her better judgement. If this kid knew what was going on with the earthquakes... it was worth a shot.

The boy had stopped in front of the brick wall, just staring at it. "Do you know the location of their base?" he asked, placing a hand on the wall.

"You mean the mansion?" America asked. To be honest, she had no idea where what remained of the Avengers holed up now, but the mansion seemed like their best bet. There would probably be at least one of them hanging around.

Without warning, the child grasped her hand and she could feel her entire body being tugged sharply forward. Instead of slamming through the brick wall, she was pulled endlessly forward for a few seconds and then quickly let go of by the magical current.

Instead of standing in an alley that smelt like cat piss, she was standing in front of the famous Avengers mansion. The boy dropped her hand and smirked at her.

America shot him a dirty look, then started walking towards the beautiful gate that surrounded the property. She was fairly certain it was only there for the aesthetic as there were countless enchantments that would actually protect the mansion from whatever threat they would face. The gate was useless to everyone, with the possible exceptions of annoying reporters.

To her surprise, she could feel no such enchantments as she approached the gate. Even greater of a surprise was the condition the gate was in; there were small specks of rust on the unpolished silver metal.

As she peered past the gate, she saw that the mansion was in a similar state. It was beautiful and grand, of course, but she could also see obvious imperfections. Imperfections that she was sure could be fixed in seconds by simple magic.

It was abandoned.

The boy seemed to realise this at the same time she did.

"Where are they?" he demanded, and it was the first time he had actually sounded his age.

America just shook her head in disbelief. "I have no idea."

"You —" the boy started, but was quickly cut off. America turned around and stared in shock at the boy, his mouth shut by a strange white substance.

"I would say it's good to see you, but it's really not," an approaching man said. He was dressed like majority of other twenty-something males in New York in jeans and a hoodie. Not at all like someone who could talk so casually to whatever the child was.

The boy tried to say something but the white meant that he couldn't make a sound. The man grinned. "Still works like a charm," he said gleefully. Then he seemed to realise America was there. "Are you okay?"

That confused her. "Fine," she said unsurely. Should she not be fine?

"What lie did he tell you to convince him to take you here?"

That made America clam up. No way was she talking to _another_ stranger about this. The man rolled his eyes at her defiance. "Look, dude, I don't have all day. Just tell me what Loki said and I can sort it all out."

America's mouth dropped. _"Loki?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that a clichéd way to end the chapter?? Probably, but I don't really care.
> 
> I hope I characterised Loki well and that his interactions with America were okay. I was so worried about that while writing this. I must have rewrote their dialogue ten times and I'm still not entirely happy with it :/ 
> 
> Anyway, next chapter America and Loki are gonna meet the YA and we'll finally have our team!!
> 
> Please kudos and comment if you enjoyed :)


	6. Chapter 6

There probably wasn't a single person on Earth who didn't know who Loki was; a pain-in-the-ass who happened to be Thor's brother (kind of).

Being the nerd he was, Billy knew even more about him which meant that he was immediately wary when Peter said the kid he had dragged into the warehouse was the trickster god.

"Are we actually expected to believe anything that comes out of his mouth?" Kate asked. Her grip on her bow tightened when Loki smiled at her.

Peter didn't have an answer to her question.

Instead, the girl who had accompanied him and Loki replied, "He's not lying about the earthquakes happening in multiple dimensions." Her tone was hard, as if challenging the others to disagree with her.

Eli took the bait. "And why should we trust you?" he demanded.

"Because I'm right," she answered.

Eli looked like he wanted to protest but Cassie beat him. "There have been weird earthquakes on our Earth."

"That doesn't mean the same has been happening on other Earth's," Teddy interjected.

"What do I get out of lying to you?" the girl asked.

No one knew how to answer that. To be honest, Billy couldn't think of a good reason for the girl _or_ Loki to lie about this but it had been proven (many times) in the past that just because Loki doesn't have obvious ulterior motive, it didn't mean he didn't have one.

And they didn't know the girl. The first thing they had heard her say was in agreement with Loki which didn't make her seem overly trustworthy.

"Who are you?" Billy asked the girl.

She seemed surprised by the question. "America Chavez," she replied after a few seconds. "From the Utopian Parallel."

"Can you give us another reason why we should trust that you aren't just trying to screw us over and destroy the planet?" Billy asked.

"My girlfriend lives here," America said, a fond smile making its way onto her face. "I don't really want her to die."

The answer wasn't all that solid, but as Billy looked around at his teammates faces he could see they were buying into it; he was too.

As much as he didn't want to trust the stranger or Loki, he knew that in this situation they really didn't have a choice.

"Will you help us?" Eli eventually asked, directing the question more at America.

She seemed a bit shocked at the question but quickly masked it. "Sure." Her voice was casual, as was her stance, but Billy could see that the offer of teamwork had surprised her.

Eli cast his eyes to the trickster god who was trying his best to look inconspicuous and trustworthy. "Are you willing to help?"

"Of course," Loki said, equal measures of sarcasm and sincerity dripping from his tongue.

"Okay, so we have two somewhat knowledgable people to help, great," Kate said, putting a hand on her hip. "But we still have no idea what to do."

Everyone was silent for a second. She had a point, one that none of them had thought to consider. But Billy quickly got an idea.

"Loki, do you know where the earthquakes have happened?" he asked.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Yes," he replied skeptically.

"Is there any way you can sense where they're _going_ to happen?"

This made Loki scrunch up his face a bit in concentration, something which Billy cursed him for because it (unfortunately) made the child-sized god look kind of adorable. "I can around a week in advance," he finally said, tension leaving his face.

"So, what, we set up patrols for those areas or something?" Cassie asked.

"That's exactly what we're gonna do," Peter said with a grin.

* * *

It had started with trying to work out pairs for patrolling ("What are you doing, don't put Billy and Teddy together, they won't do any patrolling!" Kate screeched, practically lunging for the piece of paper Peter had in his hand), then arguing about what pizzas to get ("What sort of _savage_ gets _pineapple_ on _pizza_?" Cassie asked America, looking like the other girl had just killed her dog), which had somehow turned into a game of Bang, Marry, Kill involving the different superheroes ("Deadpool is not an Avenger, or an X-Man, or any other type of hero!" Eli yelled at a grinning Peter), and had lead them to sorting each other into Hogwarts houses.

"Okay, so, the Gryffindor's are..." Kate paused for a second to scan the group before continuing. "Eli, America and me." No one disputed that. "Then Cassie and Peter are our Ravenclaw's." The pair high-fived. "Teddy's obviously a Hufflepuff." The boy in question fist-pumped the air. "Which leaves Loki and Billy as Slytherin's."

Billy's mouth dropped. "That's bullshit," he said indignantly. "I'm obviously a Ravenclaw."

Kate and Peter both made sounds of disagreement. "You are super smart and value intelligence and all that, don't get me wrong," Kate said. "But you are really cunning and ambitious and would kill for anyone in this room."

"But I don't want to be Slytherin," Billy protested.

"Bee, we talked about house equality," Teddy added, giving Billy a mock stern look.

"But—" Billy tried to protest further but was cut off by Kate.

"You also have a tragic backstory worthy of Slytherin."

"So does every superhero!"

Loki added something for the first time since the conversation started. "So what's yours?"

He was looking at Billy, whose entire body sank into Teddy's side as if trying to shrink into a smaller space. The boy didn't answer and no one tried to make him.

Except for the asshole who had asked the question in the first place. "What about the rest of you?" he asked, looking around at the now-silent group. "Anyone up for sharing?"

He was met only with averted eyes and glares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got my whole team together and bonding, lookat that shit!! That massive paragraph under the scene change was honestly so fun to write that I just want to write a ton of YA fluffy drabbles on put them on ao3 (and yes, I did lowkey add Spideypool bc I am trASH)
> 
> The next chapter is going to be v different bc it's going to be the mini-origin stories of all the characters apart from Peter and Loki. It's kind of like the characters are imagining it in this scene, if that makes sense??
> 
> Anyway, please kudos and comment if you enjoyed this chapter :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter is easily skippable because it just consists of flashbacks to how they became superheroes. Please read the trigger warnings and stay safe :)
> 
> Trigger warnings for this chapter:  
> — Mentions of sexual assault (skip Kate)  
> — Mentions of drug usage and racism (skip Eli)  
> — Mentions of bullying and homophobia (skip Billy)  
> — Mentions of parental death (skip Cassie and America)

**KATE**

she had been walking home, her scarf flapping gently in the autumn breeze. the sky was starting to darken so the lamps were gently becoming brighter.

it was quiet, like a held breath. she hadn't thought anyone would be around as she took a shortcut home _._

but then the hands grabbed her, stopping her heart for a moment.

afterwards, she had lied in bed, unable to move. she had done everything she had been taught not to do; she had ran home and immediately stripped herself of her clothes, throwing them in the sink, and got in the shower.

it was only when she got out that she remembered the hospital was where she should have gone _._

weeks were spent of her acting like an empty shell of herself, quiet and never willing to leave the house after 5pm _._

then she snapped _._

she stopped being afraid and got angry. very angry.

she picked up her bow and learnt how to use it flawlessly, even at close range, by sheer willpower.

no other girl would ever be put in the position she had. she was determined to make it so.

**ELI**

his grandad was a lab rat, an experiment, a joke.

the army had only used him as their first test because, who would miss a black man if it all went wrong?

eli missed him.

there was a photograph on the wall of his office, the photograph that had been taken of him only a few hours after the experiment, wearing his uniform and standing proudly.

the last time eli had seen him he had been lying in bed, looking too strong to be as weak as he was.

with that photograph in mind, eli had sneaked into the abandoned building and stabbed himself with the needle.

**BILLY**

slammed against the lockers, despicable insults shouted at him, a foot to the face.

that was his life. that had been his life for years.

sporting new bruises curtesy of his classmates, he had sat on a bench with his hands in his lap.

a woman had sat next to him, a red cloak covering her. she had told him to fight, to stand up for himself.

his childhood hero hadn't looked down upon him and it gave him the strength to do just that.

slammed against the lockers, despicable insults shouted at him, but no foot to the face.

instead, his hand curled around an ankle as he threw them away, blue crackling at his fingertips.

sirens sounded and he ran.

**TEDDY**

a new face used to be fun. he could look in the mirror and instead of seeing a scrawny kid with gaps between his teeth, he could see a superhero.

but then, it became a chore.

he thought he had finally found a friend, something which had blinded him to the greed of the other.

he never questioned the other boys' constant want for him to change into their principal, tony stark, and the list went on.

the one time he did question all he received was a betrayed look and the cold shoulder for a week.

as much as he didn't like changing faces constantly, he liked feeling alone even less.

that feeling of loneliness came soon after. apparently he had stopped being useful, which meant he had stopped needing to be the boys' friend.

so he changed his face a million more times until he found a strange green one that felt like home.

**CASSIE**

her father was dead, and she had found out from the tv.

she screamed, she cried, she destroyed, she cried some more.

comfort didn't help, as much as people tried. god did they try. but it was never the same. it was never her dad.

she spent weeks harassing the heroes her father had called friends, and came away with more questions and less answers than when she arrived.

being forbidden from stepping within a certain distance of the mansion meant that was another way she was less close to him.

so she broke into his work.

she found the room he had spent most of his time, the room where suits were modified and particles were stored.

the particles were still there, tubes of them lining the walls.

she didn't, couldn't, think with any sort of rationality. all she could think of was how to be closer to him.

so she opened the tube and became a little more like him.

**AMERICA**

she was running around, a sheet she had fashioned as a cape flying behind her.

shrieks of laughter came from the girls she was playing with as they all pretended to be either heroes or villains.

then the mum's started arriving, and slowly everyone was taken home.

everyone except for her.

she sat, alone, her cape hanging limply off her.

it took hours for someone to find her. a friend of her mum's sat beside her and gently told her that they were dead.

so she ran. she ran as far away as she could, the cape a red streak behind her.

she kicked her way to three different dimensions that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this while having writers block when I was writing chapter three and then I actually liked it?? I fucked around a bit with everyone's backstories (especially Eli's, sorry bby) but I didn't have my comics or the internet as a reference and now I'm too lazy to change it. 
> 
> I hope you all liked this chapter! Please kudos and comment if you did :)


	8. Chapter 8

They were all sitting in the warehouse (minus Eli and America, who were patrolling) and eating pizza while watching _Land Before Time_ on Netflix. Cassie was squashed in between Peter and the arm of the couch, slightly smaller than usual so she could fit more comfortably.

Billy and Teddy were both at the other end of the couch, talking about random crap to do with the movie, and Kate was scrolling through her Instagram feed while lying on the floor.

Cassie realised, looking around at her friends, that they were missing one but her thoughts were cut off by the room shuddering slightly. Everyone stopped, Kate's finger frozen a few millimetres away from the screen.

"What the hell was that?" Teddy asked, his voice sounding shaken.

"It felt like — like one of those weird earthquakes we've been monitoring," Cassie said, standing up slowly. She looked up at the roof where small dust particles were gently falling. "But it's never been that intense."

Everyone's phones chimed in unison, different ringtones blurring together. Cassie pulled hers out, it chiming again a few seconds later. Her first message was a worried text from her mum which she quickly replied to.

**Mum**   
_Did you feel the_   
_earthquake? Are you_   
_okay?_

**Cassie**   
_Don't worry, I'm fine xx_

The second message was sent to their Young Avengers group chat.

**America**   
_You guys feel that??_

Cassie didn't bother typing. She knew that Kate, with her lightning fingers, would get the message across in half the time.

**Kate**   
_Yeah_

_Where r u??_

**America**   
_We'll_ _meet you at the_   
_pizza place_

**Kate**   
_Okkk_

"Come on, guys," Kate said, standing up and dusting off her purple skinny jeans.

They all ran out and got into Peter's car, still unable to convince Billy to teleport them.

Despite being an Avenger and a force for good, Peter was very fond of breaking road laws and got them to their favourite pizza restaurant in half the time it should have taken. Eli and America were standing in front of it, both looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"Where's Loki?" was the first thing America said, her eyes darting around the group.

"No idea," Teddy replied. "He never showed up to movie night."

Cassie could feel a sense of dread creeping up inside of her.

"I'm not the only one who finds that suspicious, right?" Billy asked. Cassie didn't like how scared his voice sounded.

"I find that _very_ suspicious," America growled. Out of all of them, she distrusted Loki the most. Cassie didn't know whether it had something to do with their first encounter or bad past experiences with people like the trickster god or something else.

Kate had pulled her phone out and was tapping furiously, Peter looking over her shoulder and occasionally quietly giving suggestions. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Peter, while originally being a teen hero like them, was actually an adult who had been a superhero for years.

Everyone was silent while they let Kate and Peter do whatever they were doing, Eli walking over and leaning over Kate's other shoulder. There was an uneasy tension in the air that made Cassie shiver.

After far too long, Kate let out a triumphant noise. "Got him," she said happily, shoving her phone in America's face. "Idiot didn't turn off the tracking on his phone."

"It could be a trap," Cassie interjected, not wanting her friends to get their hopes up too much. "We have to remember that he's the god of mischief and trickery."

"Trap or not, he's still going to get his face pounded in," America said, snatching Kate's phone and looking at the map. "Get ready to run."

That was the only warning she gave before she started sprinting away. Surprised, no one moved for a second. Then they all sprinted after her.

Kate, Eli and Teddy were all catching up with her easily, being ridiculously athletic and/or super powered people. Cassie lagged behind with Billy and Peter. Both she and Billy were, despite their heroic hobby, pretty unfit, and Peter seemed to be purposely brining up the rear.

"You need to learn how to teleport, dude," Cassie panted, pausing in between each word.

"I know, shut up," Billy said, sounding a bit like he was about to pass out.

As she felt her lungs and legs and everything else burning, all Cassie could think was if there was going to be a fight with Loki she would be absolutely useless.

Luckily, she didn't have to worry about that. After the group ran into an alley where Loki was sitting on a crate, magic swirling around him, America immediately grabbed him by the throat and shoved him into a wall.

Cassie was only half-aware of what was happening due to her relying entirely on the wall for support and blinking away black spots in her vision, but she could vaguely make out Billy in a similar condition to her but using Teddy instead of a wall and America threatening Loki in a very colourful manner. Kate and Eli both stood on either side of her, Eli with his arms crossed and Kate with an arrow pointed at Loki's face.

Just as Cassie started to become aware of her surroundings again, a loud crash seemed to echo throughout the alleyway. She turned her head and her jaw dropped.

"Put the trickster down!" America turned her head but stubbornly refused to release Loki from her grip, despite Kate lowering her bow.

"Not a chance," she scoffed, raising her fist.

Before she could make good on her promise to pound his face in, her hand was caught by a strong grip.

"Put him down," Steve Rogers said, pulling her hand down. With defiance in her eyes, America did as she was told and dropped Loki, letting him smash his head on a loose brick in the wall.

Captain America turned and looked at the teenagers, all who had expressions varying from sheepishness to defiance, some with a mixture of both. His eyes finally settled on Peter.

"Pete, what the hell are you doing?" he demanded, walking slowly towards the former-Avenger.

"Trying to clean up the mess you left behind," Peter said, his voice surprisingly respectful considering how close the Captain now was to his face.

The look on the iconic hero's face scared Cassie a little. It was pure anger.

"With kids?" Captain America said. Cassie had to hold back a snort; as if he wasn't the same.

Apparently, Peter was thinking the same. "I'm sorry, how old were you when you started doing dumb heroic things?" he asked. "Don't forget all the stories Bucky told me."

Captain America visibly flinched at the name. "That was different," he said, his voice now slightly more quiet.

"Just because it was wartime, doesn't mean it was all that different," Peter said. "As a matter of fact, how old was I when I started all this?"

"You know I never approved of that."

Peter scoffed. "Didn't stop you from beating the crap out of me."

The Captain was apparently without a good argument because he repeated, "They're just kids."

"So what if we are?" Kate said, her chin tilting up slightly when Captain America turned around to look at her. "So what if we're only sixteen, we can still do our part."

"We've been doing more than you have," Eli added.

Captain America looked at both of them for a moment, then turned back to Peter. "Shut this down, or I'll tell their parents. And that'll just be to start."

Cassie froze up at that. Her mum would never let her leave the house if she knew what Cassie did with her free time. And of course Captain America knew that, he used to know her mum. He knew how much she disapproved of her ex-husband's profession.

She had a feeling a lot of her friends parents would be the same.

Without looking back at the teenagers, Captain America walked out of the alley. Cassie looked at where he had left, only turning back to her friends when America let out a frustrated groan.

"He let him get away," she shouted, her fist colliding with the wall. Bits of the bricks flew off as her knuckles bled, but she either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Come on, guys," Peter said, sounding tired. "You need to go home."

"Bu—" Billy started to say, but was cut off by Peter.

"Just, please go home." He sounded so defeated that Cassie could do nothing but give him a small smile and walk away, heading in the general direction of her apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so much longer than usual because I wanted to fit in all the Cap stuff without going to another chapter like I was originally thinking. I hope you guys don't think I screwed up Steve too much; I know he's a dick but he has reasoning, I swear. 
> 
> Please kudos and comment if you enjoyed this chapter :)


	9. Chapter 9

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," Teddy whispered to himself, shoving things in his backpack. He wasn't even sure if he needed half the stuff he was putting in but every second spent packing his bag for school was another second he could avoid going downstairs.

After being told to stop being superheroes by Captain America — and no, Teddy hadn't quite gotten over have Captain America only a few feet away from him — Kate had decided to persuade the others to just tell their parents and continue to be the Young Avengers.

Her reasoning was good: realistically, the only thing the star-spangled hero could do to them was tell their parents and get them into trouble. But if they told their parents first then there would be no such issue.

That solid reasoning didn't make the idea of telling his mum he wasn't human any easier, though.

"Teddy!" He couldn't help it; he flinched. "You're going to be late!"

He coughed and shouted back, "Coming!"

With a deep breath in, he zipped his backpack shut, threw it over his shoulder and started walking to the kitchen.

He stood in the doorway for a second. His mum was standing beside the sink, her hip pressed against the cabinet. She had a green mug in one hand and her phone in the other, smiling softly at whatever she was looking at. Teddy subconsciously mirrored that smile.

As if sensing him, his mum looked up and her smile became brighter. "Good morning, nice to see you hadn't fallen back asleep," she said lightly.

Before he lost his nerve, Teddy said, "Mum, I have to tell you something."

Her expression immediately became more serious. He recognised it well; it was the same expression she has worn when he had come out.

"What is it?" she asked, and her voice was so soft it made Teddy want to hug her.

"I — Y-you know how there are, uh, mutants... and stuff," he said, inwardly cursing himself for how badly this was already going. His mum simply nodded. "Well, I-I am one." With each word, his voice became quieter.

Quicker than he had ever seen her, she walked around the counter and pulled her arms around him. One hand held his head gently, the other pulling his back closer to her. "It's okay," she said, the hand on his head petting him. Without realising, he had let a few tears fall. "You're that green boy on the news, aren't you?"

Teddy pulled away, shocked, only to be met with a knowing smile. "I knew he looked familiar," she said, bringing up a hand to wipe away his tears. "I know I can't stop you and to try would be a waste of both our times, but just... be careful, okay?"

"I will," Teddy said, pulling her back into a hug.

* * *

This might have been the most stressful moment in Billy Kaplan's entire life, and he hadn't exactly lead a stress-free life up until that point.

The doorbell rang and he immediately shouted that he would get it, rushing to the front door before his parents or brothers could get to it. Teddy stood on the other side of the door, grinning widely. "It went okay, right?" Billy asked him, keeping his voice low so his family couldn't hear.

"It went great," Teddy said happily. "She was completely cool with the superpowers thing, and guessed I was Hulking before I could say anything."

"That's awesome, Tee," Billy said, smiling at his boyfriend. "Here's hoping mine will go just as well."

"You'll be fine," Teddy assured him. "Your parents are super chill."

"Yeah, but what if it's that 'it's okay if it's not in the family' kind of thing?"

"Do you really think your parents would be like that?"

"I don't know, but I n—"

"Billy, what's wrong?" Billy's dad interrupted. Billy realised he had been on the verge of shouting.

He floundered for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. That was all the time it took for his mum to join his father, both with concerned expressions on their faces. Billy looked back at the open door and saw Teddy smile, which helped.

"I have to tell you guys something," Billy started to say, subconsciously taking a small step back to be closer to Teddy.

"Honey, we already know," Billy's mum said gently.

His mouth dropped. "You do?"

"Yes, we've known for quite some time," she said with a fond smile, the kind she gave when someone she loved did something dumb but cute.

"Actually, I've only known for a few weeks," his dad interjected. "Your mother had to tell me."

"And you're... you're okay with it?" It was kind of a dumb question but he had to hear them say it.

"Of course we are," his dad said. "We're so happy you two boys found each other."

Billy didn't react for a few seconds, taking time to let what had been said sink in. "Hang on, what?" he asked, realising the mistake his parents had made. "That's no—"

"Don't worry, there's no need to hide it from us," his mum said, drawing him into a hug as his dad shook a shocked Teddy's hand.

Billy locked eyes with his boyfriend and sighed. There was no way he could tell them after that. Well, he probably could but, quite frankly, he didn't want to.

* * *

Honestly, Kate should have expected this. Why did she ever think of overprotective father, who still thought her self-defence classes were a waste of time, would react well to her blurting out in the middle of breakfast "I'm a superhero"?

"Are you aware of how much danger you put yourself in every night you traipse around rooftops, firing arrows and jumping off buildings?" he demanded, still pacing the dining room.

 _No, I had no idea my nighttime activities were anything but safe because I'm a moron_ , she thought with an eye roll.

"And catching criminals? People who murder and steal and countless other unspeakable things, do you think they will go easy on you just because you're s child or because you're a girl? No! Of course they won't because all their care about is finishing the job, and they don't care if they have to spill your blood to do so."

Kate calmly stood up from her seat and pushed her chair in but her father didn't notice. "Why do you even want to do this? Who made it your responsibility?"

She stiffened at that. She had never told anyone what happened afterwards, and with each day that passed it just seemed to become too late to say anything. She couldn't tell him that the made herself into a superhero so she could try her hardest to make sure no other girl was put through what she was.

So, instead of answering, she threw her small backpack over her shoulder and left, ignoring his shouts for her to return to the dining room.

* * *

Cassie was aware that her stepdad hated her dad, and that he also had a vendetta against superheroes and vigilantes. That meant he had even more reason to hate her dad.

She didn't count on it being a reason to hate her.

But as she stood in the hallway beside the living room, she could hear the news saying something about the anniversary for the war against Thanos and, over the top of that, her stepdad ranting.

Ranting, specifically, about the Young Avengers.

"People reckon they're kids, _kids_ ," he said, sounding shocked and outraged. "Where do you think kids get the ideas to be superheroes? From people like Captain America or the freaking Ant Man!"

As soon as her dad's codename was said, Cassie turned around and went back to her bedroom. There was no way in hell she was telling him she was one of those kids, one of the idiots who had the audacity to be inspired by Captain America or the freaking Ant Man.

* * *

Eli arrived first at the bench. He gently put his heavy bag on the ground in front of his feet and waited.

Cassie was the first to arrive and she looked pissed off. She didn't say anything, didn't even acknowledge he was there. A part of him wanted to ask her if she was okay but a bigger part of him was slightly scared of what she would do to him if he interrupted her kicking rocks with the tips of her toes.

They sat without saying anything for a while until Kate arrived, also looking pissed off but significantly calmer than the blonde beside him. "Mine was a complete disaster," Kate announced, standing directly in front of Eli. "What about you guys?"

"My step-dad thinks the Young Avengers are idiots, easily influenced children that are stupidly following in Ant-Man's footsteps!" Cassie exploded, her shoe skidding across the pavement.

Eli couldn't say he was surprised, and judging by the look on Cassie's face she wasn't either. But he could still see that it hurt a little so he put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing briefly.

"Sorry, Cass," Kate said softly, smiling at her friend. "What about you, Eli?"

He went to start explaining — something which he _really_ didn't want to do — Billy and Teddy walked up, holding hands and smiling cheerily. Of course theirs went perfectly.

"Your mum's cool with it?" Kate guessed, her smile much cheerier as she looked at Teddy.

"Yeah, she's cool," Teddy said, pride in his voice.

"And your parents are cool, too?" she asked the brunette.

Billy made an "eh" sound. "If you mean are they cool about Teddy being their son-in-law, then yes. If you mean are they cool about the whole magician thing, then I have no idea."

Eli couldn't help it; he laughed. Everyone looked at him weirdly, but it was just so Billy to come out about the wrong thing.

"How did yours go?" Teddy asked once his laughter had stopped.

"Uh, good," Eli lied. "My grandparents are worried and don't like that I'm a superhero, but they're accepting."

Cassie put an arm around his shoulder. "Good for you, dude," she said genuinely.

Eli's smile felt fake, but he couldn't bare for his friends to know he hadn't told his grandparents. He had packed a bag and left, planning on sleeping in the warehouse for a while. He just didn't want to see the disappointed and terrified expressions on his grandparents faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how long this was but there was never a good part to end on. Anyway, I hope you liked this; ngl, I got so many feels writing Teddy's part. 
> 
> Please kudos and comment if you liked this chapter :)


	10. Chapter 10

"Don't!" Kate said sharply to Eli as she stood up, giving him a warning stare.

She watched as he slowly turned to her, took in a deep breath and said, "Good work."

"How else am I me— wait, what?" she said, looking at him with a confused expression on her face. 

"You did good," he said with a smile, walking away to check on Cassie who was slumped against a wall. 

Kate just stood there dumbfounded, unsure of what had just happened. Her eyes fell to her arms, small shards of glass sticking out of various places, and then went back to where Eli was. 

"Just kiss him." Kate's head snapped towards Teddy. He was still green and a few inches taller than usual, looking somewhat menacing with his arms crossed over his chest. The smirk on his face ruined the effect. 

She spent a second trying to think of a good retort but instead settled for, "Shut up nerd."

Teddy only snorted, starting to transition back to his human form. 

"Why won't you kiss him?" Kate groaned as America chimed in. 

"Because I don't want to," she insisted. 

Both her teammates looked at her disbelievingly. "Straight people are so weird," Teddy said with a sigh, walking off to Billy. 

"If you want to stick your tongue down his throat, then you should do it, Princess." America made it sound so simple. 

Maybe it was that simple. 

_She couldn't do it then, though. Too many people,_ a voice in her head said. 

_And you're scared,_ another added. 

_Shut up!_

"We good to go?" Eli asked, looking around at the team. 

None of them were looking too great but they weren't going to get any better just sitting there. "We're good," Kate said as she started pulling glass from her arm. 

Cassie, who looked dead on her feet but relatively uninjured, had her arm around America's shoulder as they both tiredly walked. Teddy was right behind them, an unconscious Billy wrapped around his back like a koala, with Eli bringing up the rear. 

They all looked bruised and tired but Kate couldn't help but smile. For her entire life she'd had very few genuine friends and now she suddenly had five. 

She was also a superhero. That was pretty cool. 

Which reminded her... "I need more codename ideas, guys," she said. 

"Hawkeye," Teddy immediately suggested. 

"I'm not going to pick the name of a retired Avenger," Kate protested. 

"Hawkgirl," Cassie suggested. 

Kate scrunched up her nose. "Maybe."

They kept throwing around ideas, each one worse than the last. At one point they started trying to come up with America's superhero name but that was going even worse. 

"I'm not going to be called Puncher," America said with an eye roll as they walked into the warehouse. 

"But it's accurate," a very tired Billy piped in. 

"Very accurate." 

They all stopped short at the voice coming from the dark room. Cassie flipped on the light switch and Kate winced. 

Seated on a couch was Peter Parker, in his Spider-Man suit minus the mask. He reminded Kate of a disapproving parent waiting for their kid to get home after they were already an hour late. 

"What are you guys doing?" Peter sounded weary. 

"What we have to," Eli replied, his drowsy voice somehow sounding commanding. 

To Kate's surprise, Peter grinned and stood up. "Cap's gonna kill me," he said. 

"Nah, he likes you too much," Teddy said, also grinning.

* * *

Kate loved laughing. It was a fairly recent discovery as she hadn't genuinely laughed very often before meeting her friends. As a kid she had laughed, of course, but it wasn't ever full-belly laughter. As she'd gotten older, the laughter had lessened up until the incident happened. 

She hadn't laughed for months after that. 

As she sat in the headquarters for the superhero team she was a part of, laughing her ass off at a joke Cassie had said that wasn't that funny, she had no idea why she hadn't tried to laugh more. 

After a few moments she realised she was the only one still laughing. The rest of the team were all looking behind her, shocked expressions on their faces. 

As Kate turned around America leaped forward, a furious expression on her face. Her fingers squeezed tightly around Loki's throat, lifting the small trickster a few inches above the ground. 

"Give me one good reason," she said through gritted teeth. 

Loki, despite being held in a choke-hold and gasping for breath, let out a chuckle. That only made America tighten her grip slightly.

"I know — know what's c — causing the ear — thquakes," Loki choked out, his hands grabbing at America's wrists. 

Kate's jaw dropped. "What?" Cassie demanded, walking so she was standing beside the god. "What's doing it?"

When she saw Loki still trying unsuccessfully to release America's hold on his throat, Kate stepped forward and put a hand on America's shoulder. "Let him down," she said quietly. America's head whipped around, incredulous fury in her eyes. "He can't tell us if he can't breathe."

America released him while death glaring Kate, letting the trickster fall to a heap on the floor. Then she turned and looked down at Loki, probably trying her hardest to glare a hole in his head. "Talk."

"They're alien races," Loki gasped out. He breathed heavily for a few seconds, giving the boys time to crowd around him as well. "Two of them. They've spent months trying to get to Earth but they keep blocking each other, which is what's causing the earthquakes."

"So what can we do to stop them from getting here?" Eli asked. 

Loki refused to meet anyone's eyes. "Nothing. They're here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait, this chapter was just refusing to get written. The next chapter will probably take a while too :/
> 
> I hope you liked this, please kudos and comment if you did :)


	11. Chapter 11

The longer Kate paced the more nervous Teddy became. He hadn't known the girl for that long but he knew that she got stressed incredibly easily, something which was resulting in her wearing down the carpet.

He didn't have the heart to tell her to stop, though. She had every right to be as anxious and panicked as she was.

"What sort of aliens are they?" she asked Loki, not stopping her pacing or even looking up at the god.

"The Skrull and the Kree," Loki replied, eyeing America warily where she sat barely a foot away from him. The bruises on his throat were fading much faster than if he were human but they were still there and they were still dark. "They've been at war for centuries and that war has now reached Earth."

"Why?" Billy asked. His voice was starting to become panicky, as if he was halfway to a breakdown (he probably was). Teddy wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling the smaller boy closer to him. It didn't seem to do anything to actually help the anxiety rolling off of Billy in waves but the other gave a weak appreciative smile nonetheless.

Loki only shrugged in response to Billy's question. "I don't know." All it took was a raised eyebrow from America for him to get defensive. "I swear I don't!"

"He's probably telling the truth." Teddy turned to look at Peter, standing at the back of the group, looking immensely tired. "No one seems to know why they're at war at this point, let alone why they both want to come here."

"This is — this is too much," Eli said, his tone nowhere near as panicked as the others but shaky nonetheless. "We're a group of teenagers, we're meant to be stopping robbers and bullies not alien invasions."

"This is shit the Avengers should be dealing with," Kate said, finally stopping in her pacing to look at Peter. "Can you take us to the mansion?"

Peter bit his lip. "I guess." He didn't sound overly confident. "Cap's gonna be pissed."

"He should still know," Teddy said.

Peter nodded, a look of dread on his face. "Okay, we'll go," he conceded. "How should we get there?"

"I can take us there." America stood up from her place on the couch, ending her angry silence. Everyone looked as she punched the air far more forcefully than she ordinarily would have.

* * *

America was in pain. Dimension jumping was difficult to do once or twice in quick succession, but transporting a group of people multiple times felt nearly impossible.

The second the group landed in front of the abandoned Avengers tower, her knees buckled and it was only Cassie gripping her arms which stopped her from falling entirely. The mansion had been a bust; not only had it been completely dark, but Peter had been locked out, presumably by Cap for going against what the man had said. So Loki had suggested they try the tower, and that meant America had to make far too many trips in a ridiculously short time span.

"Come on," Cassie said gently, bulking herself up considerably and forming a tight grip around America's waist. As the other girl flashed her a kind smile America dropped her body weight, relying almost entirely on Cassie to support her.

The other girl seemed fine, though, squeezing America's waist briefly before beginning to walk.

They were a few metres behind the rest of the group which meant that they saw the uneasy look Peter and Kate shared before stepping inside. Having the two most level-headed people she knew being nervous did nothing to help America's confidence.

The inside of the tower was quiet, eerily so, and had no electricity. Kate, Billy and Teddy all pulled out their phones and turned on the torches, illuminating the few feet in front of them. If she was being honest the low light made America even more nervous.

The group walked slowly, cautiously. The tower was clearly empty, not a sound beyond their footsteps, breathing and rustling of clothes. Despite this, they didn't turn back, and without speaking made it up several floors.

Eli, who was now at the head of the group, stopped in front of a door on the sixth floor, everyone else stopping diligently behind him, all holding their breath. Then, carefully, Eli pushed open the door. It didn't make a sound as it opened, not old enough to have formed rust in any place and too high-tech to do so for hundreds of years.

America was surprised at the small pool of light that came from behind the door. Eli pushed it further and, raising herself slightly on her tip-toes, America saw what was creating the light.

It looked like an operating table, one made of a marble-like material that glowed pure white. On it was a man who looked as if his skin was a deep red, unmoving. America, who had detached herself from Cassie a few floors ago, stepped forward so she was beside Eli who was still standing motionless in the doorway.

From a bit closer America realised two things: one, this was not a man but a boy, probably their age, and two, his skin didn't appear red, it was red.

"What is it?" Loki asked, the brat whining as if he were bored.

"It's the Vision," Cassie said, sounding in awe as she looked at the AI on the table.

"No, it's not," Peter said with a shake of his head. He gestured as he spoke. "See the rounder face, smaller frame, bits of green? That's not the Vision, but it's a damn near-perfect replica."

America was the first to step into the room, wary to the fact that the AI could spring to life at any moment. It was as if she had triggered something because the rest of the group quickly followed in suit, all forming a loose circle surrounding the table.

Peter was toying with a control panel by the side of the room, the only piece of tech that seemed to work in the entire building. "I think the AI is what's powering this room," he said, sounding a bit far-off, as if he were unaware he was speaking aloud. "But it's not conscious; it's as if it's sleeping."

"What happens if we wake it up?" Eli asked, sounding just a tiny bit nervous.

"Let's find out," Peter said, not mischief but trepidation in his voice.

Not even a second after he had pressed something on the screen did the AI's eyes spring open. Kate flinched slightly in surprise, but other than that everyone was still, silent.

His eyes darted frantically around the room a few times, then the AI started babbling incoherently. At first it was just a few syllables strung together coming out of barely-moving lips, but after a few moment it turned into snatches of words, as well as names and numbers.

America looked at the AI in a nervous sort of amazement, only catching a few words that he said, such as "ice manipulation" and "Wilson".

Suddenly, the words stopped and the AI just stared, horrified, at the ceiling. America couldn't help but jump when it sat bolt upright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. AM. THE. WORST. FANFIC. WRITER. ON. THIS. WEBSITE. I am so sorry for leaving you guys hanging for so long, and I thank all of you for still staying with this story during my bout of writers block. While I can't promise I'll have consistent updates in the future, I can promise that they won't take this long to write and upload.
> 
> Yes, I threw in a reference to Iceman and Deadpool because they're my favourite non-YA marvel characters and I'm trash.
> 
> I hope you guys liked this (long-awaited) update. Please kudos and comment if you did :)


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